Early Indications of Autism

Monica and I caught glimpses that Ian might have some sort of issues during his infant, through toddler phase:

1. Had a prolonged and difficult delivery--for us, it was 12 hours of hard labor, 8 hours of pushing, and an emergency C-section.
2. Began speaking late, had a soft mouth during attempted speech, and loved mimicking sounds instead of using words. We learned and taught Ian sign language to communicate early on and through the speech development.
3. Did not dump out his toys, but brought everything out one by one and lined them up in some order.
4. Did not respond when we called, but needed a touch to get his attention.
5. Stared intensely into your eyes.
6. Loved his "Johnny jump-up" and being bounced hard on his belly.
7. Would not heed common-sense dangers or show any sign of fear or concern--e.g. totter into oncoming traffic of any sorts. Throwing a rock at someone was fine because it was a "pretend stone".
8. Would not heed common-sense boundaries of social expectations--e.g. ducking under someone's flowing skirt to play hide and seek.

These indicators were identified by my brother-in-law who is a special education teacher, but because Ian was so high functioning and intelligent, we could not get a label for him.

~ Shien